Dual 
Theresa Hottel - Read and practice writing in the main genres of creative writing
- Deepen theoretical knowledge of basic creative writing elements
- Learn to read like an editor: noticing creative choices in a work, including how they affect a text and how they could be adjusted
- Gain feedback on work in progress
Do you want to learn more about the possibilities and tools of creative writing and practice applying them to your own work? Do you seek to learn and grow in a community of interested peers? This multigenre introductory course is ideal for writers who want to get started and build knowledge, dipping their toes in the water, as well as for more experienced writers who seek feedback and want to refine their craft.
Over 8 weeks, we’ll briefly cover poetry, flash literature, scripts & screenplays, fiction, and creative nonfiction. We’ll read theory and examples, discovering tools to excel in each of these genres, and also how each one grants us insights into the others. Participants will learn basic writing elements and critically analyze creative texts by masters. Additionally, participants will have 2 workshop opportunities, submitting their work on a formal schedule for class discussion.
Ultimately, our aim is to explore and create richly imagined, technically elegant writing that grabs readers’ attention. We’ll rigorously analyze published work, building our writerly perspectives: asking ourselves what effect a text has on us as readers, and then seeking to understand what choices the author made to achieve this effect. We’ll turn this same questioning eye to our own work as we write and discuss, discovering what is possible on the page.
